Seed Definition

sēd
seeded, seeding, seeds
noun
seeds
The part of a flowering plant that typically contains the embryo with its protective coat and stored food and that can develop into a new plant under the proper conditions; fertilized and mature ovule.
Webster's New World
Any part, as a bulb, tuber, etc., from which a new plant can grow.
A potato seed.
Webster's New World
A small, usually hard, seedlike fruit.
Webster's New World
Seeds collectively.
Webster's New World
A larval shellfish or a hatchling fish.
Released scallop seed in the bay.
American Heritage
verb
seeded, seeding, seeds
To form seeds; specif., to become ripe and produce seeds.
Webster's New World
To plant with seeds.
Webster's New World
To go to seed; shed seeds.
Webster's New World
To sow seeds.
Webster's New World
To remove the seeds from.
Webster's New World
adjective
Set aside for planting a new crop.
Seed corn; seed potatoes.
American Heritage
Intended to help in early stages.
Provided seed capital for a fledgling business.
American Heritage
idiom
go
  • To pass into the seed-bearing stage.
  • To become weak or devitalized; deteriorate:

    The old neighborhood has gone to seed.

American Heritage
go to seed
  • to shed seeds after the time of flowering or bearing has passed
  • to become weak, useless, unprofitable, etc.; deteriorate
Webster's New World

Other Word Forms of Seed

Noun

Singular:
seed
Plural:
seeds

Idioms, Phrasal Verbs Related to Seed

Origin of Seed

  • From Middle English seed, sede, side, from Old English sÄ“d, sÇ£d (“seed, that which is sown"), from Proto-Germanic *sÄ“diz (“seed"), from Proto-Indo-European *sÄ“tis-, *seh₁tis (corresponding to Proto-Germanic *sÄ“anÄ… (“to sow") +"Ž *-þiz), from Proto-Indo-European *seh₁- (“to sow, throw"). Cognate with West Frisian sied (“seed"), Dutch zaad (“seed"), Low German Saad (“seed"), German Saat (“seed"), Danish sæd (“seed"), Swedish säd (“seed"), Latin satio (“seeding, time of sowing, season"). More at sow.

    From Wiktionary

  • Middle English from Old English sǣd, sēd sē- in Indo-European roots

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

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